Court Dismisses Appeal of Bainbridge Cell Tower

Bainbridge residents opposed to a cell phone tower on the island’s south end had their third appeal denied by state judge on Tuesday.

The state Court of Appeals dismissed two Bainbridge families’ claim that the installation of Verizon Wireless cell phone transmission equipment on a 45-foot utility pole would unlawfully block views and may cause health hazards.

In its decision, the state court affirmed dismissals by the Kitsap County Superior Court and the city of Bainbridge Island’s hearing examiner, who threw out the initial January 2008 appeal because it was filed more than a month late.

“By filing a late administrative appeal, the landowners failed to exhaust administrative remedies” available to them with the city before availing themselves of the superior court, state Court of Appeals Judge Marywave Van Daren said in her decision.

Nick Nickum, who filed the appeal with his wife Peg and neighbors David and Bonnie Snedecker, said Tuesday that he was disappointed by the decision.

“This goes against every sense of what is legal and proper,” he said.

Nickum, an attorney, said he and his neighbors learned of Verizon’s plans for the tower when they saw workers clearing land around the pole.

“They didn’t notify anybody,” he said, explaining that he didn’t have enough time to file the initial appeal before the city’s deadline.

The tower mars his and his neighbor’s views of Rich Passage and the Olympic Mountains, Nickum said.

“I’m not against cell tower poles, but putting it where they did is just the worst sort of place,” he said.